2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2019-2020, 72,122 people earned their degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the 15th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,823 and had an average of $24,576 in loans still to pay off.
Across Colorado, there were 1,205 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,553 and $20,903 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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One Size Does Not Fit All
The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k”.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k.
Top 10 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Colorado
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado State University - Fort Collins. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Fort Collins, Colorado, and it awarded 355 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
Colorado State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for Colorado State University - Fort Collins is $11,831 for Colorado Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Colorado State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Colorado landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Greeley, Colorado, this fairly large public school awarded 243 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
University of Northern Colorado also took the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. It costs about $11,571 for colorado parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Northern Colorado.
Full University of Northern Colorado Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Adams State University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k list. Alamosa, Colorado is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 61 students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Adams State, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Adams State University is $10,108 for Colorado Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Adams State University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k list. Denver, Colorado is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 122 students in 2019-2020.
MSU Denver also took the #5 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver is $11,531 for Colorado Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at MSU Denver
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado State University - Pueblo. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k list. This medium-sized school is located in Pueblo, Colorado, and it awarded 40 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
Colorado State University - Pueblo also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $11,363 for Colorado Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Colorado State University - Pueblo.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Colorado State University - Pueblo
Western Colorado University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. This small school is located in Gunnison, Colorado, and it awarded 54 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
Western also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Western Colorado University is $13,018 for Colorado Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.
Full Western Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
Fort Lewis College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #7. Durango, Colorado is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 72 students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at FLC, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Fort Lewis College is $13,108 for colorado parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.
Full FLC Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
Colorado Mesa University landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Colorado Mesa University is a medium-sized school located in Grand Junction, Colorado that handed out 141 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our colorado parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k list, Colorado Mesa has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. It costs about $12,708 for Colorado Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Colorado Mesa.
Full Colorado Mesa University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
Johnson & Wales University - Denver did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #9. Located in Denver, Colorado, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 16 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
JWU Denver also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Johnson & Wales University - Denver is $23,662 for colorado parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Intellitec College - Colorado Springs came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. This small school is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and it awarded 4 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Intellitec College - Colorado Springs, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Intellitec College - Colorado Springs is $17,905 for colorado parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.
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Notes and References
References
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
Footnotes
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
Credits
- Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.
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